I currently have 1 employee when we are both working we average around £250-£300 per day although when i have him working with someone else they only get £180 of work done per day i have tried bonuses etc. but nothing seems to work. At the moment i pay them an hourly rate does anyone know of a good way to motivate them to work faster.

Supplier

Some people have not got much motivation in them and are just going through the motions it seems to me that he only does £90 a day worth of work and more than likely you are carrying him,I would try the sorry mate but I can only pay this amount for you a day as we're not earner enough to cover wages,Money is a great motivator drop of wages by 20% is a good kick up ass

I pay upto 3 self employed window cleaners on a sub contractual basis and I pay Percent of the days earnings. But if your earning enough to cover both of your insurance, tax and national insurance. And can meet requirements for minimum wage, sick pay and holiday pay go for it.

Administrator

It seems once you get to the stage of employing it is hard to keep your business going at the standard you want as you have to rely on others to work to your standard which most don't. To them it is just a job and your that naging boss that we all started this job to get away from. Suppose as this is our own business and livelihood we put lots into it and have a high standard where as for employees it is just a job.

Supplier

Your right cyberpedz,either have to check up on them or learn to trust them.I prefer just to keep myself going and take on just enough for myself on a regular basis,I do pass work on or call in help from a mate from time to time if I get behind or have a large job that has to be done.But I can trust him with my reputation as he is a better window cleaner than me LOL

Just sharing my point: I think that bonuses are a good motivation tool, but if the employee is not interested in the job and just doing it because he doesn't have a choice then it is really hard to motivate him. Try to talk with him/her and try to understand if he likes or not the job. If he/she doesn't, then what is the point? Offering more bonuses or salary won't solve your problem, it will just make th employee even more lazy and slow...